


Issues

by milesofheizer



Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-17
Updated: 2018-06-26
Packaged: 2019-05-24 17:41:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14959115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milesofheizer/pseuds/milesofheizer
Summary: Takes place 2 months after the ending of season 2. Justin and Alex are now friends again, and an unspoken bond begins to form between them. They keep each other safe; spending time with Alex keeps Justin from relapsing, and spending time with Justin helps Alex cope with his depression. A strong relationship forms between them the summer before their senior year at Liberty. Inspired by the song Issues by Julia Michaels.





	1. Chapter 1

Alex plugs his headphones into each of his ears, and blares the music loudly in an attempt to drown all thoughts from his brain. He likes doing this, to focus on nothing but the music. Not the hole in his head, not his legs, nothing.

He’s trying to pass the time before Clay came over, in what always felt like babysitting to him. With his mom being a nurse, and his dad being a cop, sometimes their night shifts overlapped. Their schedules were always unpredictable.

In the past, those were Alex’s favorite times. He had what felt like freedom, silence, and privacy. 

But ever since Alex has been recovering from his suicide attempt, his parents always arranged for one of his friends to come and “hang out” with him. Alex fully knew this was babysitting, but he ignored it. Since his shit show birthday party, he was trying not to fight with his parents as much.

He let the music take him away, and he hadn’t noticed he dozed off until he felt his shoulder being shaken.

“Alex,” he barely heard over the loud music.

He pulled his headphones out of his ears and opened his eyes, only to be surprised, and slightly saddened by the person staring back at him.

“Where’s Clay?” he asked, unable to hide his annoyance.

“I don’t know, busy. He sent me if that’s okay.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Alex replied.

Justin Foley sat down on the couch in Alex’s room. He looked uncomfortable, and Alex actually liked the thought that he was uncomfortable. He deserved to be uncomfortable.

Alex hadn’t really been hanging around Justin ever since he found about about him and Jessica at the dance. If he had plans with Clay, Zach, or any of his other friends and he found out Justin would be there too, he made up some excuse about being too tired to go out.

In reality, he just didn’t wanna see Justin, or have to face him.

He knew he felt threatened when Justin came back. I mean, he is who Jessica dated after they broke up the first time. He always thought Justin was always cooler than him, better looking than him, and he definitely got more girls than Alex ever did.

“Listen, Alex, I’m sorry. About the–”

“Stop,” Alex interrupted. “It’s fine. Really. I’m over it.” Alex was way too tired to care about the drama right now.

“You don’t seem over it.”

“Well, I am.”

“Okay,” Justin says, breaking his eye contact. “I brought you something to help you forgive me.”

“I don’t need anything. You’re forgiven.” Alex goes to put his headphones back into his ear, until he hears the sound of Justin pulling a plastic bag out of his pocket.

“I know you love these,” Justin says, holding up a bag of Sour Patch Kids.

Alex can’t help but smile a little bit. “Thanks.”

“But if you don’t want them I’ll just throw them away,” Justin says with a smile while holding the bag above the trash can.

“No!” Alex nearly shouts. “I mean, no. I do want them. Thanks.”

Justin smiles at Alex while he opens the bag and pours a few into the palm of Alex’s hand.

“So, are you done hating me now,” Justin asks.

“I never hated you,” Alex says, then pops a few Sour Patch Kids into his mouth. Justin waits until he’s finished chewing to continue. “I was just pissed at you.”

“I’m glad,” Justin says, as he looks down at the ground smiling to himself. “I really missed you, Alex. I missed being friends.”

“Yeah…” Alex says, between chews.

“I really am sorry about Jess–”

“Let’s just not talk about it anymore.” Alex interrupts again. He really doesn’t want to hear about this anymore. It’s been two months since the dance, and since him and Jess broke up.

“Okay. But I just want you to know that we aren’t together. She didn’t want to be with me after I um, relapsed.”

“Are you okay?” Alex asks. “Are you clean now?”

“Yeah, I really have to be. It’s one of the rules of being a Jensen, and I really can’t fuck that up. Even though sometimes I really, really want to.”

“You want to fuck it up?”

“No. Shoot up.”

“Oh…” Alex isn’t really sure how to respond. He’s always worried about Justin, ever since he came back and they found out he was addicted to drugs. He couldn’t help it, he had a soft spot for Justin.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t…”

“No, you’re fine.” Alex says. “You forgot who you’re talking to. I’m pretty fucked up myself.”

“You’re not,” Justin argues. “You weren’t homeless, or on heroin.”

“Yeah but I did shoot myself in the head,” Alex snaps back at him. “I win.”

Justin smiles, and Alex eventually returns it. “Maybe we should just put on a movie or play some video games,” Alex suggests. “This conversation took a dark turn.”

“Yeah, okay.” Justin agrees. “I forgot how easy talking to you is.”

Alex smiled to himself while he turned on the xbox and handed Justin a controller.

The boys played video games for hours without even noticing, the time just continued to fly by. In that moment, Alex realized he was actually glad it was Justin who showed up tonight. It hit him like a ton of bricks that he too missed their friendship. 

“Fuck yeah!” Justin shouts for finally winning a game after losing to Alex all night. He looks over at Alex expecting a rude comment in response to his victory, but instead Alex just yawns, covering his mouth with his hand. “You wanna get some sleep?” Justin asks.

“I really just need to lay down. We can watch a movie or something.”

Justin reaches out his hand to help Alex stand, and walks him over to his bed. “I guess I’ll uh, take the couch.” Justin says, watching Alex get under the blankets.

“If you want to see the movie you can sit here,” Alex says, nodding his head toward the empty space on the bed beside him.

Justin sits down on the bed, not bothering to get under the blankets, because he feels a little too awkward. About five minutes into the movie he glances over at a silent Alex, who Justin discovers is already asleep.

He smiles to himself at how peaceful Alex looks before returning his attention back to the screen. He’s distracted again when he feels the bed move, noticing Alex has rolled over onto his side.

Justin looks down at the side of Alex’s head, the strip of missing hair, the scar. He’s never had this close of a view of it before, and he almost feels guilty for staring at it. Surprising himself, he gets a bit emotional. He knows he himself has been through some shit, but in his opinion, nothing compares to what Alex has been through. His heart aches for his friend, but he forces himself to turn back to the movie.

He’s so glad they’re friends again.

About 30 minutes later, Justin finds it difficult to keep his eyes open any longer. He briefly thinks about moving over to the couch, but ultimately decides he’s too comfortable and tired to care where he falls asleep.

– – – – –

Alex was in such a deep sleep that when he first opened his eyes it took him a few seconds to figure out where he was, what day it was, what time it was. He clicked the lock button on his phone to illuminate the screen and read the time. It was 8:30 am, and his dad would be home soon.

It takes him a minute to even notice the arm draped across him, and he turns his head to glance over at Justin, fast asleep and still laying on top of the blankets. His lips are parted slightly as his chest rises and falls. 

Alex has to use the bathroom, but he doesn’t want to disturb Justin, or ruin this moment of happiness. He doesn’t have them very often.

He tries to lift Justin’s arm very gently to slip out from under, but Justin makes a small groan noise, and flips over, facing away from Alex. He’s surprised at the disappointment he feels not being able to see his sleeping face anymore.

Once Alex is done in the bathroom, he grabs his cane and makes his way back into his bedroom. “Oh, hey,” he says, surprised to see Justin awake and sitting up on the bed.

“Hey,” Justin says. “I’m having some deja vu.”

“You are?” Alex asks as he walks over to the bed and takes a seat next to him.

“Remember all those times you let me crash here? No one else gave that much of a shit about me. I’ll forever owe you for that.”

“You really don’t owe me anything. You’re my friend.”

“You know, I really am glad we’re friends again, Alex. I missed you a lot."

“Yeah, me too,” Alex agrees. Justin surprises him by scooting closer to him on the bed, and wrapping his arms around him. Alex is thankful that Justin can’t see the shocked expression on his face, but he brings his arms up to reciprocate, and wrap around Justin.

A minute or two must have gone by, but they just sit there hugging each other, feeling so secure and so content. Eventually, they’re interrupted by the sound of the front door opening, and they both let go of one another.

“I guess that’s my cue to go,” Justin says. He walks across the room and picks up the empty bag of Sour Patch Kids. He shoves the bag into his pocket and winks at Alex. He’s extremely thankful Justin understands and saved his ass, because the last thing Alex wants to deal with is one of his parents discovering the junk food and candy his friends would sneak him.

“Bye. See you at school tomorrow,” Justin says, and he leaves the bedroom, then the house.

As much as Alex doesn’t want to admit it to himself, he spends his entire Sunday thinking about Justin. Right before he’s about to fall asleep, he feels the vibration of his phone under his pillow. The illuminated screen shows a text message from Justin.

When Alex unlocks his phone and sees the message, he can’t help but smile. Justin sent him a photo of a brand new bag of Sour Patch kids, with the message ‘for next time’.

Alex was able to fall asleep for the first time in what felt like forever with a smile on his face.


	2. Chapter 2

“I can’t believe our junior year is almost over,” Alex says, before taking a sip of his coffee.

“Yeah…” Justin says quietly, almost like no one else is meant to hear. “I can’t believe I made it here.”

“You know, we’re all proud of you,” Clay interjects.

“Don’t get all mushy on me now, Jensen,” Justin replies.

Clay rolls his eyes and stands up. “I’m getting a refill, anyone need anything?” Justin and Alex both shake their head no in reply.

“So, do you still want to come over today?” Alex asks when Clay walks away, keeping his eyes focused on the cup in front of him as he fidgets with the mug. “I know we made plans like, last week. I didn’t know if you still wanted to…”

“Yeah. Of course I do.”

Alex looks up at Justin and can’t help but smile. Alex pretends to be calm, and hide his excitement, but eventually returns a smile.

Without even realizing, Alex and Justin fall into a routine. They spend time with each other almost every day. Not only do the boys simply just enjoy spending time together, they basically have an unspoken agreement. The more time they spend together laughing, having fun, enjoying themselves, the less likely Justin will relapse, or even think about it. Alex also isn’t nearly as depressed, and hasn’t once thought about harming himself.

“Okay so, if this sounds totally lame we don’t have to do it,” Alex says. “My doctor wants me to like…walk? To move around more and push myself. My dad thinks I should try and go for a walk every day around the neighborhood. But we don’t have to. We can just–”

“Let’s go,” Justin interrupts, and his smile makes Alex nearly melt before he even gets outside into the heat.

The heat affects them both almost immediately after they step outside.

“Oh, wow. It’s hot as fuck,” Justin says.

“We don’t have to. It’s okay, I’ll just–”

“Stop,” Justin interrupts again. “We’re walking. It’s good for you.”

Every time Alex stumbles a bit, or needs to pause, Justin’s arms are there to hold him instantly.

Alex’s heart nearly skips a beat. He’s never felt as close to anyone as he does to Justin. They truly give each other a companionship that they didn’t realize how much they desperately needed.

When they finally make it back to Alex’s house, he immediately begins to make his way up the stairs.

“I need to shower. I feel so gross.”

After insisting that he doesn’t need any help, Justin watches as Alex walks up the stairs. He eventually follows, and while Alex takes his time in the shower, Justin lays on Alex’s bed aimlessly scrolling through his phone.

When the bathroom door opens, Justin is surprised to see Alex emerge in only a towel wrapped around his waist.

Apparently Alex is surprised to Justin as well. “Shit! I didn’t know you were in here,” Alex says. Justin can visibly see that he is trying to think of a way to cover himself up, but he fails. Justin can’t keep his eyes off of him, but he hopes Alex doesn’t notice.

He quickly walks over to his dresser, opens a drawer, and throws a t-shirt on over his head. Justin smirks to himself, entertained with how flustered Alex seems to be as his presence. 

“Um, some privacy?” Alex says, while holding up the pair of sweatpants that he has to drop the towel to put on.

“Oh, yeah, sorry.” Justin turns around on the bed to face the wall, and turn his back to Alex.

“Okay, you’re good,” Alex says once he’s put his pants on.

Alex sits in the chair in front of his desk, and powers on his video game. He offers Justin the other controller, and tosses it over to where he is still lying on the bed.

Justin’s view of the screen from where he’s sitting is so far away, that Alex is crushing him at this game. But then again, Alex usually always wins.

Alex has his eyes trained on the screen the entire time, giving Justin a clear view of the back and one side of his head, the full view of Alex’s scars. Cutting his hair short was a huge emotional step for Alex, that he finally isn’t ashamed to have them showing. Justin held his tongue, he never wanted to comment on it or talk about it; he never wanted to upset Alex. But this time, he just can’t help himself from complimenting him.

“Hey, Alex,” Justin says.

“Hmm?” he replies, never breaking his eyes from the screen.

“I really like your hair short.”

“Oh,” Alex finally glances away from the screen to look at the ground. “Thanks…”

A few minutes go by, and Justin decides to break the silence again.

“You don’t have anything to be ashamed of,” he says.

“Ashamed of what? My hair cut?” Alex doesn’t let Justin divert his attention from the game, pretending to now know what he’s referring to.

“Your scars.”

Justin watched Alex’s shoulders deflate, and he lowers his controller to rest on his lap. “Yeah well, I can’t hide them forever.”

“Don’t. I don’t want you to.” Justin says, and Alex finally turns to look at him. “I don’t want you to hide who you are. I really like who you are.”

Alex smiles and turns away, looking back down at floor. Justin smiles at the sight of Alex’s dimples, and is pleased with himself that he made them visible.

“Thanks,” Alex says. “I like who you are too.”

They both smile to themselves, and turn their attention back to the video game. Alex realizes that he’s actually happy, which isn’t something he’s felt in a really long time. He knows who he has to thank for that.

That night while Justin lies in bed, he too realizes what he’s been feeling. Happiness.

This is a friendship that Justin hasn’t quite experienced in the past. His closest friend since he was a child was Bryce, and he never made Justin feel as good or comfortable as Alex did. He never made him actually feel like himself like Alex did. 

Justin has never wanted to be around a single person this much, or spend this much time with one person. He picks up his phone, and the screen brightens his dark room. He opens Messages, and beings to type.

'I had fun today'

Almost instantly his phone vibrates with a response, making him smile from ear to ear.

'Me too. See you tomorrow?'

Before he can even type his response another message comes through.

'Clay’s having people over. But you probably know that since you’re BROTHERS'

Alex liked to tease Justin about him and Clay being “brothers.” Mainly because he knew how much it annoyed Justin.

'Not my brother. But I know. Can’t wait. See you there'

– – – – –

Justin retreats into the kitchen in an attempt to get as far as he can get away from the living room when he catches a glimpse of Jessica walking into the house.

“Fuck,” he whispers to himself. This ‘having mutual friends with your ex-girlfriend’ thing is a lot harder than Justin thought it would be, especially when he has to do it sober.

He resists the temptation to take a shot of the bottle of vodka sitting on the counter in front of him. He’s in a really good place right now, and really doesn’t want to risk fucking that up.

“Hey, Justin.” He immediately recognizes the voice. He turns slowly and is greeted by a surprisingly smiling Jessica Davis. “You look good.”

“Thanks,” Justin replies harshly. 

“Not like GOOD… but good,” she clarifies, “I’m happy you’re clean, and I hope we can still be friends. We all have to stick together, you know? Forget all the bullshit.”

“Yeah, Jess. We’re friends.” He turns away when he hears Zach yelling Alex’s name, signaling that he’s finally arrived. 

Justin and Jessica finish their conversation, and she surprises him by pulling him into a hug. Justin walks over to the couch where Alex is sitting alone.

“This seat taken?” Justin asks. Before Alex can reply, Justin sits down anyway. “Actually I don’t care.”

Alex laughs, and Justin smiles back at him. “I love how this is considered a party to Clay. There’s like 6 people here,” Justin says, making Alex laugh again. Justin realizes how much he loves the sound of it.

Soon after, Clay insists everyone sit down and play a game of Cards Against Humanity.

Every time Alex bursts into laughter, Justin can’t help but turn and look at him in awe. His laughter is infectious, and makes Justin instinctually smile. Alex has noticed Justin looking at him frequently, and they make eye contact. Alex almost always breaks it, but doesn’t stop smiling.

Once the game is over, everyone is still sitting around, and a few different conversations fill the room.

Alex stands up and makes his way to kitchen, announcing that he needs to take advantage of all the snacks Clay put out before he has to go back home and eat strictly organic. Justin sits on the couch alone now, listening to the other conversations around him. Instead of joining in, he follows Alex into the kitchen.

“Alex Standall in his natural habitat,” Justin says while Alex is standing over the bowls of snacks deciding which to eat first.

Alex smiles and shakes his head.

“Hey, do you wanna see my room?” Justin asks bluntly.

Alex’s snaps his head up from the food and his eyes meet Justin’s. “Your room?”

“Well yeah, I mean I kinda just moved in. I know you’ve been here before but you haven’t seen my new room. I just thought–”

“No… I mean yeah. Let’s go.”

“Oh, I wanna see!” Jessica says as she joins them in the kitchen.

Justin sighs, but thankfully no one else notices. “Okay, come on.” Jessica leads them up the stairs with Justin following behind, then Alex. Justin walks at a slow pace in an attempt to keep up with Alex, while Jess practically runs up the stairs.

“This one?” she asks, pointing to a closed door.

“Yeah.”

She opens the door and turns on the light. “Oh, Justin. It’s um… boring.”

Justin laughs. “It’s not boring!”

“It is, but it’s nice.” She leaves the room and makes her way back down the stairs, and Justin’s relieved. All he’s wanted since Alex walked in was some alone time with him.

“You made me walk up all of those stairs for this?” Alex asks when he steps inside the room. Justin watches his chest rise and fall as he tries to catch his breath from exerting all of that energy. 

“Sorry, I thought you’d like it,” Justin says, while quietly closing the door when Alex’s back is turned toward him.

“You thought I’d like it? It’s plain walls with a plain comforter. You need posters. You need to decorate,” Alex says while he takes a few steps and turns in a circle, looking at the entire room. “It has potential though.”

Alex starts to walk toward the door, but Justin grabs his arm and turns him back toward him.

Justin take a huge risk, and presses his lips against Alex’s, something he’s been wanting to do for a really long time.

Both of the tense boys relax when Alex returns the kiss, opening his mouth and welcoming Justin’s. After what feels like both an eternity and one second goes by, Justin pulls away, and rests his forehead against Alex’s.

“Was that okay?” Justin asks.

“Uh, yeah. Sorry… wasn’t expecting that.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know if you–”

Alex grabs the back of Justin’s neck and crashes his lips back against Justin’s. When they pull apart, Alex is even more out of breath than he was from walking up the stairs. 

Without saying anything, they both exit the room, and start to join the rest of their friends downstairs.

“Justin,” Alex says, and Justin turns his head to look up at him, still standing on the top of the stairs before making the descent back down.

“That was more than okay.”


End file.
